Entertainment

World's Biggest LeBron James Fan Explains His Massive Tattoo

Think all the way back to this Wednesday, when we brought you the story of the world's biggest LeBron James fan and his even bigger King James tattoo. When the Miami Heat star posted a photo of himself and his inky likeness to Instagram, it sparked any number of questions: Who is this guy? Why did he do this to himself? What if LeBron leaves the Heat?

On Thursday, Michael Arevalo told Mashable about one of the most epic fan tributes — sports or otherwise — we've ever seen. But first, here's the photo of his tattoo again, posted on James' Instagram account:

Arevalo said he never expected to run into James in the first place. Hailing from Tampa, he's a big Heat fan (since "right before they got D-Wade") and an even bigger James fan, dating back to the basketball prodigy's high school days. So Arevalo and his girlfriend took a little vacation to Miami this week to hit the beach and take in a few Heat games. They also stopped by The Juice Spot, the Miami juice bar own by James' wife, to check it out and hopefully meet the woman in charge.

But when they arrived — lo and behold! — James was there, hanging out with his two sons.

"I tried to walk up to him, but his trainer said he wanted to be left alone with his kids," Arevalo told Mashable. "That was fine, but then I showed my tat to the waiter. The waiter showed his trainer, and the trainer said, 'LeBron, you gotta see this.'"

Arevalo describes James' reaction as a broad smile and an enthusiastic, "Oh, damn!"

You can't rewrite history

Arevalo first made the decision to get his tattoo last summer, after James won his second title with the Heat.

"I just wanted to do something crazy to pay some kind of homage to him," Arevalo said. "At first my girlfriend was very against it, but she knows it's my body and it's all about whatever makes you happy at the end of the day."

Arevalo is happy whether or not James leaves the Heat as a free agent this summer. "If he leaves, then he leaves," Arevalo said. "But the history was made in Miami, and you can't rewrite history."

Regardless of James' future moves, Arevalo is saving the strip of bare skin below the tat to fill with King James' title rings once he retires from the NBA.

The piece's central inspiration came from the cover of the NBA 2K14 video game; it took three sessions at Forever Ink Tattoos in Tampa to complete the design (you can see the artist's other work on Twitter and Instagram). It cost $1,500 with a hometown discount.

Image: Michael Arevalo

Image: Michael Arevalo

Image: Michael Arevalo

Whatever, haters

For the record, Arevalo's tattoo above LeBron, which reads "Only God's Love is Everlasting," is unrelated. We repeat: unrelated. Arevalo is something of a tattoo enthusiast and has sizable pieces paying homage to the fight against breast cancer, guardian angels and Dragon Ball Z (below), respectively.

Image: Michael Arevalo

Maybe you wonder what it's like having a massive LeBron James tattoo on your back. Arevalos says it's pretty fun. Most of the attention he receives is positive, save for the usual crowed of Neanderthal commenters on James' Instagram photo. It receives a great deal of attention whenever he takes off his shirt to play basketball at the park, but sometimes people say he should have gotten Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan needled into his corpus instead. Arevalo takes the unsolicited advice in stride.

Arevalo's meeting with James this week even made his mom to rethink her position on her son's body art.

"When she first found out about it, she was pretty upset," Arevalo said. "But when she found out I actually met LeBron, she was actually pretty stoked about it."

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Mashable
is a leading source for news, information and resources for the Connected Generation. Mashable reports on the importance of digital innovation and how it empowers and inspires people around the world. Mashable's record 42 million unique visitors worldwide and 21 million social media followers are one of the most influential and engaged online communities. Founded in 2005, Mashable is headquartered in New York City with an office in San Francisco.